Naruto: In the Void
by SkyUchiha13
Summary: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Mysterious child find outside of Hidden Leaf! Join us as they rediscover 'their world' though reoccurring nightmares and random adeptness at unexpected skills. Will they return to their world or will they pave their own path in their hopeful second chance. [Revitalization of a story I wrote a looooong, long time ago. (Naruto: The Lost Character)]
1. 1 From the Dead

The world was dark. My world was dark. It was cold. Out of the void, I heard the essence of words. I couldn't understand them. I thought for a moment. Am I dying?

No, I concluded. If I was dead I wouldn't be cold. The words grew clarity. Their meaning still eluded my muddled mind.

Hands reached toward me from within the darkness drawing me back towards life...

"Are you okay?" asked a nervous almost panicky disembodied voice as something grabbed my shoulder. It was only then I remembered I had a body.

My eyes opened. The world was overwhelming. It was full of colors and sounds. Wetness splattered my chilled flesh. I looked toward the sky. It was raining. The heavens were grey. The clouds consuming its grandeur.

"Are they alive?" questioned a much younger voice.

I looked back towards the earth. I was surrounded by what appeared to be a group of commoners. I tried to speak.

It didn't work.

There was relief in the next voice that sounded, "They're alive."

The relief must not have been long-lived for my world soon returned to darkness.

The next time color returned to my world it was very limited. I was in a hospital bed. My head ached. My flesh did not desire to move. I was about to return to my rest when a person walked in.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." the person said in a jovial manner.

I tried to reply with a 'barely', but again no sound escaped.

"You must've been out in that downpour for quite a while. What were you doing out there" they questioned.

I then remembered that I couldn't remember. The idea hit me like a wall. I tried to think.

I tried to recall.

.

.

.

.

.

I found nothing.

"Don't worry too much. Memory loss often accompanies hypothermia. We'll wait with the questions until a later time" they replied after my pause.

I tried to manage an apologetic expression. I don't think it worked.

"You'll be back to full health soon enough. Just focus on getting better" they said as they exited the room.

I looked around the barren room. Everything was a sickening institutional white. There wasn't even so much as a window. From afar I heard the pittering of rain hitting the roof. I looked behind me. There was a clock ticking away the day. It was 1:13. As to whether it was day or night the simple feature did not tell me.

White is such a deceiving color I thought as my world returned to darkness.

I must have been weaker than I imagined.

I awoke to voices outside the door. I looked around the room before looking back to the clock. It was 8:20. I was able to move much better now.

I tested my voice, "Greetings, world." it came out as a whisper.

Great! Progress. Not much, but progress nonetheless.

The door opened.

In came two of the individual that I saw when I first regained consciousness along with an old guy in a red and white pyramid hat and the medical guy from before.

The younger kid was eyes bulged a bit when he saw me. I take it that hypothermia wasn't the whole list.

The other individual from out in the rain was an older woman. I noticed her looking above my eyes and to the clock before settling a bit above my forehead. She had turned slightly pale.

"This is Lord Third, the Third Hokage in the land of fire." expressed the medical guy as he gestured to the person in the pyramid hat.

His attempt at a dumbed-down explanation didn't help my case, unfortunately. I had no idea what any of those things meant. I tried to keep that to myself. I tried mind, you. My confusion was most likely very blatantly expressed as I attempted to simply nod.

A clipboard was brought up from the medical guy's side along with a simple pen.

"We have a few questions for you to answer.." the medical guy trailed off as he looked to the clipboard, "Can you tell us your name?" he asked and then looked up expectantly towards me.

I thought. But I just hit a blank wall.

" I cannot recall," I said perplexed. Of all the things not to remember.. The simplest thing.

"Ok.." the medical guy trailed off again as he read off the clipboard, "Parents, clan? Do you remember either of those?"

I thought again… the wall seemed to be ever-expanding. It hurt my brain trying to think past it. I shook my head, "No, I can't remember anything..." I said, exasperated with my inability.

The medical guy pushed a professional smile past his frustration and said, "For now we'll send you with these two to the orphanage. You can answer the questions when you remember. Correct, Lord-Third?" questioned the medical guy as he checked if Hokage agreed with the action.

The Hokage nodded and said with a smile, "Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village" then he left the room.

Next thing I knew I was en route to the Orphanage.


	2. 2 Behind the Clouds

The world outside was dim after the white walls and electric lights. It was also nighttime.

"We must hurry back, its almost curfew." said the older lady as we rushed along a path that I could only assume led to the orphanage.

I must have dazed off for soon we were walking towards a dimly lit building surrounded by trees.

"Welcome to the Orphanage" the lady announced as we walked through the doors, 'Now, off to bed with both of you. Yuuto will help get you settled in" and she walked off.

"This way. Be quiet its past lights out.." said the kid apparently named Yuuto as he wandered off down a hallway lit by clouded moonlight.

I followed close behind as to not get lost in the dark. I heard a door open ahead.

"Here," Yuuto said simply, piling a blanket and a pillow in front of me before continuing to walk down the hall.

I pulled the items into my arms and followed after him. We entered a room full of bunks.

"This one's empty," Yuuto said as he pointed to a bunk before climbing into the one adjacent to it and falling asleep.

I hauled my pile over to the bunk and fluttered the blanket onto the bed grabbed the pillow and pass out into the bed.

"_, _?" Within the dept of my dreams, someone was calling my name…

It was when I first arrived…to that place... I tiredly thought.

"_, _.This is our _. " said the shadow cloaked individual as they led me down the halls of their domain. "Starting today, this will be your room,_, and _ this will be yours" as they pointed to two doors next to each other. I looked over at the other shadowed figure. I knew them. I knew them well. But I couldn't see them. I knew they were important to me.

"I will leave you two to settle in. Don't take too long." the shadowed figure said as they wandered away.

As they disappeared from view I whispered to my companion, "He does know we are going to get lost, right?"

They laughed. It was a beautiful laugh. Clear and contagious. "Loster isn't a word, _," They said as they entered their room.

Their laughter brightens my existence, but their philosophy pains my soul… We are already lost. I got us lost…

I walked into my room.

I heart hurt when I awoke.

I looked around the room. There were many bunks in the room. I looked behind me and there was a window blocked by a row of curtains. Through a gap in the curtains, I could see the sun thinking of sleeping in again. A thick roll of cloud blankets was already gathering outside, promising to bring more rain.

I wondered for a moment. How did the sky look without the clouds…

People started to move around more in their bunks as they got closer to rising from their slumber.

How did I end up like this…? How did I end up here?

I looked back out the window. It looks as though I will have to wait longer to see the full grandeur of the sky...

Feet hit the floor. They slowly shuffled towards the hallway. I quickly slid out of bed and chased after the crowd. They walked down the hallway and entered a large room with tables and benches. From the windows, I saw that the sun was still hiding its face.

"He who doesn't work, doesn't eat either." said the lady from yesterday.

On the tables were various pieces of cloth and buckets. I was confused.

Yuuto handed me a bucket and one of the cloths.

"You can wash the windows," he said.

I looked around people were putting water in their buckets. I rushed over to do the same.

When I had gotten half the bucket full of water people had already started on the windows.

I ran over to one that I could see was dirty. I got the cloth wet and tried to clean it.

It didn't work as I planned.

Dirty water was running down the windowpane and onto the wall. It wasn't getting very clean…

"What were you? A prince?" asked Yuuto as he painfully examined my masterpiece, "you don't even know how to clean a window."

"Sorry.." I apologized as I tried to stop the window water from getting to the floor...

"-sigh- I have to get the water out of your cloth first before you clean the window," said Yuuto as he turned his cloth into a rope and water dripped out into his bucket, "then you start at the top of the window and work your way down."

The window seemed to magically disappear as he moved the cloth across it.

"Make sure you rinse out the cloth when it gets dirty," he said as he dumped his cloth back into the water and repeated the whole process over again.

Soon it looked like there was a hole in the wall.

I moved onto the next window and tried to clean it as Yuuto had demonstrated. It turned out better than the first one. Water only ran halfway down the wall. There was only a slight film of grime left on the window.

Yuuto sighed in disapproval as he walked past to the next window.

I concluded that I was terrible at cleaning and tried to clean the window again. No matter how much I washed the window it didn't get any cleaner. It was frustrating...

"Go get some food," said the lady as she walked over to inspect the troublesome window, "Yuuto has a magic touch when it comes to cleaning," she said as she gestured to some of the other windows. They were still cleaner than mine. But, they weren't the same clear plane like the ones Yuuto had done.

I walked over to receive a bowl of food from one of the adults that helped at the orphanage. It was a simple bowl of rice. The rest of the food had run out.

I went to sit by Yuuto. He looked up as I approached the table, "Hey, do you remember anything yet?" he asked.

I smiled sadly, "Nope".

"It's pretty inconvenient that you don't have a name.." he said.

The lady walked over and sat with us. "I should explain the schedule to you. As you already know we start with a little housekeeping at 6:30 with breakfast at 7:00. We eat supper at 5:00. Lights out is 8:30".

"They don't have a name," Yuuto pointed out, "What should we call them?", as he gestured towards me.

"Hmmm... ", she thought for a moment as she looked me over before reaching over and pulling my hair forward, "How about 'Sky'?".

It was then that I saw the bright color of my hair. It was stunningly bright, "Is this the color of the sky?" I asked as I looked over through the windows.

"Yes, I think its a nice name. 'Sora'." the lady said as she also looked out the window, "Perhaps the clouds will clear today and you will be able to see the sky."

I hoped the clouds would clear today. If my hair was such a pretty color... How much more beautiful would the heavens be?


	3. 3 In the Dark

After we finished eating we were divided into groups to take on various missions to earn money for the orphanage. Thankfully I was grouped with Yuuto so I didn't have to try and figure out anyone else's name.

"Alright, this group is to go down to the fields and pull weeds for the field hands. The farmers are great supporters of the orphanage so be sure to treat them well," informed the lady before walking off to the next group. I assumed they went to this field a lot as she didn't tell us where it was…

Our group set off through the trees on what I could only assume was a shortcut. I really hope they know where they're going.

Soon we were trudging down a trail surrounded by golden-green fields. Up ahead on the path we saw the field hands had already begun their work, but they stopped to greet us. "Hya, kids. You here to help again?"

"Yes, sir," said one of the other kids.

"You can help us by pulling these treacherous weeds that keep popping up in our wheat fields. They usually look pretty similar, but since the wheat is starting to ripen out you shouldn't have much trouble finding them. The weeds are the ones that are still green. Like this one," the field hand said as he pulled a green plant out from the wheat field.

Upon closer inspection of the field, I concluded there was a lot of weeds in it. "If the weather starts to cooperate you'll be able to help us harvest the wheat in a few weeks," the field hand concluded looking up into the sky before returning to his work.

Our group dispersed across the field and worked on cutting down the pesky not-wheat. It was tiring... And I think I was slowly losing my mind. I started to see green everywhere…

The blanket of clouds above wandered lazily across the sky. We were thankful for the comfort of the shade as we worked tirelessly until the darkness started to creep towards us.

We inspected our work. The field looked much more uniform, without all the random green plants sticking haphazardly out of it. We bid farewell to the fieldhands as we rushed back to the orphanage along the same non-existent path we arrived by.

"If we don't hurry back we'll miss supper," explained Yuuto as we practically ran through the trees, "these clouds are messing with my internal sundial", he concluded with a mutter.

We arrived to a very displeased lady opening the door, "You're late".

"Did we miss supper?" everyone asked simultaneously with great sadness.

She sighed, "There is still some left," she said as she let us through the door.

We immediately raced for the food line. We weren't **that** late.

We **were,** however, a lot more exhausted than we thought we were. In our rush to get back, our adrenaline masked our tiredness. We ate our food in complete silence as thoughts of sleep consumed us.

We wandered off down the hall to sleep after we ate.

My world went dark once my head hit the pillow.

"Greetings, _. A lovely day isn't it." a voice from within the deep called.

Fields of gold appeared in my dreams. They were a beautiful gilded color. As if to confirm whether or not they were metal my hand reached out to caress one. It was warm from the smile of the sun. "It looks as though the harvest will be good this year,'' said a warm voice from behind.

I turned around to look. As usual, there was no face… no form... Just a shadowy figure. The sight hurt... I know these people. But yet, I can't remember anything…it hurts. I couldn't stay in the dream any longer. I awoke in tears.

I stifled a sob with my pillow. Quickly wiping away the tears I looked around to make sure no one saw. It was too dark to tell. I don't want to look weak for something as pathetic as this. I already have my terrible cleaning skills to do that for me.

Laying in the dark I stared out at the moonlit world behind the curtain. I must've fallen asleep without knowing it for the next time I awoke it was to the sound of everyone getting out of bed.

Looking around I saw it was still dark. It wasn't this dark yesterday morning, was it. Yuuto was still sound asleep in his bed. I looked at the next closest bed. They were still sleeping as well. What was that sound then? I looked more critically around the room. I couldn't see past the other side of their bunks.

Then I heard the scream. I really do hope it wasn't a boy because it was the girliest thing I'd ever heard in the entirety of my memory. I jumped out of bed and caught sight of a large figure rushing towards the door with a flailing figure in their grasp.

As they rushed through the door they fell on their face as I gave them a nice and polite body check from behind before shoving the kid away from them and pinning their arms behind their back.

I was suddenly very confused.

**What did I just do?**

I looked around and lights from down the hall rushed towards the room. Within the lights were the lady and an old guy, "What is going on down there?" they said very loudly in the otherwise quiet building.

"How'd you do that?" asked a bewildered voice from the kid that was about to get spirited away.

"That was awesome!" said a voice from the doorway to the room.

I now knew I was right to be confused. Not a normal thing to be able to do.. whatever It was that I just did.

"What happened?" asked the two adults as they got close enough to be able to light the scene, "Who is that?" questioned alarmed at the strange person pinned to the ground.

They had stopped fighting once they found out they were surrounded.

"Go call for the police," the lady told the old guy as she walked quickly over to check on the kid, "Are you alright?" she asked as she assessed damages.

"I'm fine," they said, "They saved me with their crazy ninja skills". The kid continued gazing towards me with twinkling eyes full of admiration.

The lady looked towards me with a sadness in her eyes, "Well, I'm glad you aren't hurt" she said as she turned back towards the kid.

There was a pain in my heart again. Why does she look so disappointed in me? I looked down toward the person stuck on the ground. Why am I like this... Why?

Footsteps rushed down the hall followed by a familiar light. I was quickly brushed off of the criminal in question as the police arrived and tied him up.

Two of the policemen left with the would-be-kidnapped as the third stayed to fill out a report on the incident.

No one really knew what happened. It was dark out, there was a sound, someone tried to carry them out the door, epic ninja skills? Why they had decided to try and kidnap that kid in particular or any kid, in general, was completely unknown. The bizarreness of my suddenly acquired takedown skills largely went ignored.

As they finished their questions and left everyone found themselves standing around awkwardly in the light of the lamps.

"Off to bed with you all," said the Lady, "try and catch whatever rest you can before morning.." and at that the adults wandered off back down the hall.

Slowly we all drifted back into the room and to our beds.

Sleep did not return to us.


	4. 4 Down the Tunnel

As the room lightened we drowsily arose and stumbled down the hall to the meal room. There were no buckets yet. I looked around and saw that everyone had been lured to the tables and were in various states of sleep. It seemed I also got drawn into the trap for I awoke to a hand shaking my shoulder, "Sora," the voice said.

It was Yuuto. Jumping up, I said, "Sorry, I must've fallen asleep". Looking around I saw the buckets were still missing from the table and people were still fast asleep.

"Help wake everyone up," Yuuto said as a crash was heard from the entrance.

"What was that?" I asked alarmed.

He moved over to the next person, "Nothing good. Probably the guy from last nights buddies back to finish whatever he started…"

I walked down the next row shaking everyone awake.

Soon the entire room was looking around nervously, "Where are the adults?" I asked Yuuto.

"They had a meeting with the sponsors.." he answered nervously as he looked towards the source of the noise.

It had gotten closer.

"Is there another entrance?" I asked hastily.

"There isn't supposed to be... But yeah" he looked flustered.

"Isn't supposed to be?" I asked suspicious of his wording.

"Oh, nothing the adults need to know about,'' he said as he gestured for everyone to follow him.

His path led us down into the basement and through a very dusty crawlspace to a suspiciously placed ladder that led to a hole in the wall. I wonder how he knew about this exit.

"Don't worry," he said as he checked the ladder, "there shouldn't be too many uninvited guests," he looked around the group with a nervous smile, "who wants to go first?" he asked.

I looked around. Obviously, no one wanted to go down this sketchy tunnel in a wall…, "Where does it go?" I asked as I considered going up the ladder.

"Out to the trees," he said, "It's not too far from this part of the building".

There came a rather loud crash from directly above us.

Suddenly the sketchy wall hole became a popular exit. I ran over to keep the ladder stable as it almost fell over under their rush.

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, "quickly, quietly" I muttered to each person as they started up the ladder.

The room quickly thinned out until only 4 people remained. Down the tunnel of people traveled the message, "We're out".

"Found them!" hollered a voice from the crawlspace.

Only three remained.

I looked around the room. Aside from the ladder, the space was empty.

I looked back to the crawlspace, "think they can fit?" I asked the room.

"Let's hope not" Yuuto replied.

He did not knock on wood.

The first person was soon emerging from the space.

Only two remained.

"Quick! Get up the ladder" I ordered as Yuuto stopped to stare at the individual entering the space.

I rushed around the ladder and shoved him up. Breaking him out of his trace be started to climb.

I'm not going to make it in time, I thought as I put my foot on the first rung. The tunnel was full. I looked back. They had gotten to their feet.

We made eye contact.

They laughed.

They should not have laughed.

In the time they took to laugh they got a flying kick to their jaw. They stumbled a few steps and hit the wall. Their hand rose to their face and came away with blood. They didn't stay up for long.

I guess they were queasy around blood?

"Sora, up the ladder! Hurry!" Yuuto yelled from the tunnel as the next person found their way into the crawlspace.

I turned and climbed the ladder. Upon reaching the top I leveraged the ladder off of the ground and into the tunnel with me.

"I take back that whole princess thing I said yesterday.." said Yuuto as he leaned over to get a better look at the person crumbled on the ground.

"I thought you said prince?" I feigned offense as I watched the new offender trying to get up to the tunnel to no avail. It was just out of their reach.

Outside the tunnel the clouds greeted us.

A group had been sent off to get help. The rest of us camouflaged ourselves in the trees.

A loud string of curses emanated from our escape route as they gave up on that exit. A tree branch broke on the path leading to the orphanage. A group of shinobi in police garb had arrived at the scene. Half of them rushed into the building while the rest secured the area to prevent anyone from escaping.

"Your crazy epic ninja skills saved us again," said Yuuto.

"You sketchy non-existent exit saved us" I retorted. I was not comfortable with my circumstantially suspect takedown skills. I knew it probably had something to do with my past I was unable to remember. Why would I have been so skilled at hurting people that I didn't even need to think to do it?

The thought scared me.

Four bound individuals were led out of the orphanage, with a fifth being dragged out by a policeman.

One of the policemen waved for us to come out. I guess our hiding skills weren't crazy epic ninja level.

Two of the police stayed to file a report on the incident and to supervise us until the adults returned.

They asked a lot of questions, but again, there wasn't much we could say. All we knew was that someone was breaking into the building and we should probably get out.

In reference to the slightly damaged face of the injured person, however, Yuuto began to tell a wild and exaggerated tale of the event. Something about giants? Maybe some flying?

I began to wonder if we had really heard the same question.

I had initially thought Yuuto was a good kid. But, after today and learning of his sketchy exit and storytelling prowess, I began to wonder about this wild streak of his.

The day dragged on as the clouds hung lazily above.

At noon the rest of our group returned alongside the adults. The worry had deeply creased their faces.

I felt the lady's disappointed gaze upon me as she received an elaborate retelling of the day's epic events from Yuuto.


	5. 5 Small Signs

A low rumble spread across the room. In all the excitement we had forgotten that we'd missed breakfast.

A group of the older kids wandered into the kitchen to make a late breakfast for everyone. The rest of us wandered about the orphanage straightening out all the things our 'guests' had made a mess of.

Compared to the noise they had made we found very little damage. Just some things that had been moved or thrown out of the way.

We put things back in their place and cleaned up what we could of the broken things. By the time we had finished breakfast was ready.

I thought I had gotten food in my bowl but it disappeared as soon as I sat down. Looking around it appeared as though everybody was suffering from a similar problem. The day was only starting.

After we ate our brunch we were again divided into groups to go out into the world and earn money to help support the orphanage.

I, however, had to stay. I got some pitying looks from the other kids as they left the building.

Whatever was about to happen probably wasn't going to be good…

"Sora, follow me," the lady said as she walked off.

We headed down the hallway until she stopped in front of a door. She turned to check that I had followed and then opened the door for me to enter.

"We need to have a bit of a discussion," she said as she followed me through the door.

The room was relatively bare. There were only a table and some chairs in the middle. She walked around to the opposite side of the table and sank into the chair. The disappointed airs already appearing… I guess I will be finding out why she has looked so upset at me?

"Recently," she started, "there have been a number of incidents that have taken place here at the orphanage…" she paused, "and you have kept them from turning to the worse".

I looked around the room quickly see if I was hearing this right. Then I looked back to the lady and nodded unsure of what I was supposed to say. Was it a compliment? Or had I done something bad?

"However," she started again, "your methods have been… rather violent".

I stared for a moment, "I'm sorry. My body acted on its own… I guess it was the fastest solution?" I attempted to explain.

She held up her hand. I stopped trying to explain myself.

"I was in a meeting with the Hokage when the news of today's incident was brought to us. The Hokage desired to ask if you would like to train to become a shinobi" she said simply, "I have been told some children desire to become a ninja. While I don't agree with teaching children to fight. I will let you decide".

I stared at her.

And stared.

Me?

A shinobi?

I thought for a moment.

What worried me the most was my inexplicable gifts in fighting. Perhaps if I learned more about fighting it would help me remember more of my past. It was currently my only lead.

"I- I would like that," I said embarrassed. They had taken care of me since I came to this village. She didn't want me to become a ninja but… it was the only way I could think of to help get my memory back.

She sighed clearly disappointed by my response, "A lot of the kids in the orphanage as orphans because of ninja" she trailed off, "don't continue this cycle of hatred".

It hurt.

"I'm sorry… but, I want to return the kindness the village has shown me" I lied. My reasons could be argued… There really was no way to convince her that this was the right thing for me to do.

"If that is what you think is best," she said, "I won't argue with you".

"Thank you for your consideration," I replied.

She smiled, "Now you can help me start preparations for dinner".

"Yes," I said as she rose from her seat and headed towards the door.

Dinner preparations did not include setting everything on fire apparently.

Needless to say, my experience in window washing carried over to cooking. With a deep sigh and a lot of frustration, the lady banned me from the kitchen.

Instead, I was tasked with washing off the tables. At least now I couldn't set anything on fire. How could anything go wrong?

I filled my bucket with water and tried to clean the tables as Yuuto had shown me to clean the windows.

I dunked the cloth in the bucket of water, tried to get as much water out as possible, and wiped off the table.

Maybe I was getting better?

The tables looked shinier? Or was that just the water reflecting the cloud light?

There weren't as many crumbs? Or had they just gotten smushed into the table?

I smiled over my doubts. Perhaps there was hope for me after all.

I looked around for a clock.

It read 4:43. They would be back soon.

I cautiously peeked through the kitchen door, "Do you need help with anything in here" I asked.

The lady thought very deeply for a moment, "If you are very, very careful and don't touch anything that I don't tell you to. You can stir this for me", she looked at the clock, "they should be getting back any minute now".

Very, very, very carefully I entered the kitchen. She handed me a spoon and pointed towards a large bowl with food inside. I asked her how I was supposed to stir it. She just replied with a circular motion of her hand.

Following her very clear instructions, I stirred the stuff in the bowl.

Around, and around, and around went the things in the bowl. I was very careful not to let anything come out of the bowl.

Soon enough there came the sound of young voices coming through the main door.

The lady came over to check on my stirring.

I was permanently banned this time.

I sat at one of the tables hanging my head. How does one manage to get banned from a kitchen twice in a matter of hours? I was truly talented at being unable to cook. Perhaps I was meant to be an anti-chef.

"What's wrong with you?" implored a familiar voice.

"I got banned from the kitchen…" I informed Yuuto, "twice".

"How did you manage that?" he questioned.

I was about to answer when the lady came out of the kitchen, "Food is ready" she announced.


	6. 6 A New World

Our food was simple and only slightly overcooked. I tried to keep my eyes on my food. But I really felt like I should tell Yuuto what I had agreed to as soon as possible. After all, he had been a good friend during the short time I was at the orphanage. From what the lady had said I would leave the orphanage.

"What do you think of ninja?" I asked as I picked at a particularly burnt part of my food.

I didn't get a response so I looked up at him, it appeared as though he was thinking.

"My family lived in a small village. We weren't too bad off. We had a lot of trade going on in the village. But, some ninja destroyed our village. My parents died in the attack", Yuuto said quietly, "there are some bad ninjas. People that will do whatever they want just because they can… but, there are people like that, that aren't ninja who do stuff that's just as bad", he paused to look around the room, "but, there are also a lot of good people that become ninja. They helped me and some others get out of the village and stopped the bad ninja before anything worse happened. They brought me to Konoha and here I was helped by more ninja".

"So, there are both good and bad ninja?" I asked for a summary as I was confused by the philosophical things he had rambled out.

"Yep," he said, "Why do you ask?"

"The lady asked me if I wanted to become a ninja..." I said as I stuffed more food in my face, grimacing at the charcoal-y taste accompanying it.

His eyes brightened, "You'd be a great ninja!" he explained, "so long as you don't have to do any cleaning" he jested.

I grinned in return, "So if I have to do any cleaning..." I hypothesized, "then I'll be an absolutely terrible ninja?"

He shook his head with what appeared to be an eye roll. He shoved a fork full of food in his mouth and grimaced, "Is this why you got banned from the kitchen?" he choked out.

"Probably," I muttered.

The lady walked over to the table, "Sora, the Hokage has sent a message saying that he would like to meet with you today" she said on approach.

"Oh, when?" I questioned.

"Once you are finished eating we will head into the village,'' she said the looked towards Yuuto, "I'll be leaving you in charge of making sure everything gets cleaned up after dinner".

The rest of the food in my bowl magically seemed to disappear down a bottomless pit. I rose from my seat and we headed off. I

waved my goodbye to Yuuto.

We followed the same path that had brought me to the orphanage back into the village. Rather than heading to the hospital, we followed a new path. All the new sights were overwhelming. I felt my head began to spin.

Out of the mess of towering buildings rose an impressive mountain. In it, there were carved the faces of 4 individuals. I wonder who they were that they got their faces stuck on the side of a mountain. It seemed our paths were leading in the direction of that landmark.

As we got closer the mountains loomed even higher above our heads. The view from the top must be amazing I thought as I gazed into the blanket of clouds hovering over the mountain.

Abruptly I remembered that I was following somebody. I quickly glanced around. I saw the lady standing at the entrance to one of the buildings below the mountain. Thankfully she had stopped before lost her. I ran over to where she was.

"This is the Hokage's office" she explained, "I expect you to be very respectful," she commented.

When had I ever been disrespectful, I wondered as I followed her through the large doors and into the building.

We stopped at the main desk. We were soon guided down various halls and up some stairs until we stood outside a new set of doors. Our guide knocked on the door.

"Come in," said the voice on the other side of the door.

Our guide opened the door and we entered the room.

"Ah, Are your memories coming back?" asked the Hokage when he saw me.

I shook my head, "No, sir" I said sadly.

"Hmm.. perhaps the hypothermia isn't the only thing contributing to memory loss,'' the Hokage said, his gaze falling on my forehead.

Deja vu… the lady had done the same thing when she came to the hospital. For all I knew I could have a gaping hole in the top of

my head, I hadn't seen myself. Yuuto's windows were too clean to see reflections in and mine were too grimy to see anything in.

The Hokage sifted through the stacks of paper on his desk until he found one that he seemed to like. He pulled it out and set it in front of him, "Earlier today," he began looking through the papers, "I was informed of some of the recent events that took place at the orphanage" he looked up at me, "I hear you handled both events quite well," he concluded.

I nodded unsure of what else to do.

"Because of this, I laid a proposition on the table," he said.

What was a proposition? I wondered as strange words continued to pile above my head.

As if noticing the words flying around above my head he elaborated, "I asked if perhaps you would be interested in attending the academy and training to become a shinobi. Would you?"

I nodded again, "Yes, sir"

He nodded as well, "The village has agreed to sponsor your training. You will be provided a place to stay in the village and some funds to pay for necessities," he said.

"Thank you," I said, still highly confused.

He looked to the wall off to the side. I followed his gaze, it was a clock.

It read 6:50.

"We still have time before the sun sets" he stated, "We will get you settled in your housing tonight," he said as he rose from his desk.

I wondered if he was done with whatever Hokage stuff he had to do.

He picked up the stack of papers he'd selected from his piles and headed for the door, "Follow me," he said as he opened the door.

We followed him down some stairs and various hallways back to the main door of the building.

Crossing various paths and roads and other assorted trails we ended up in a quiet area of the village.

I had absolutely no idea how we got here. I internally sighed. I am most certainly going to get lost… very, very lost.

We headed down another ally and stopped at the base of some stairs leading to the top half of a building.

"Don't worry too much about getting lost," the Hokage smiled at me before heading up the stairs.

The stairs creaked in protest. I tried to step as lightly as possible. That seemed to upset them even more.

At the top of the stairs, the Hokage stood flipping through his stack of papers again.

I waited a few steps below the lady and looked around.

Despite the grumpy stairs the building seemed to be in pretty nice shape. Or at least compared to the orphanage. The stairs led to a railed-in walkway that ran around the top half of the building. The windows were pretty clouded though.. I stopped my thoughts and remembered what Yuuto had said about cleaning.

I decided those windows would stay dirty.


	7. 7 You're Home

The Hokage pulled a small envelope from somewhere in his stack of paper, "Found the key," he announced and handed the small metal content of the envelope to me.

"This will be your apartment starting today," he said, "I'm afraid there isn't much in there yet. But, I will be sending someone over tomorrow to help get you further assimilated".

He waved me towards the door. I tried the key.

It unlocked.

I gently pushed the door out of the way and stepped inside. In front of me, there was and reasonably sized open room with a table and some chairs with what appeared to be a small kitchen on the far wall. I glanced at the lady. There was a very blatant look of, "don't you dare even attempt to use that!" written all over her horrified face.

There seemed to be a hallway to the right of the kitchen. I wandered off in that direction intent on exploring.

"There is some paperwork that has to be filled out," explained the Hokage, "We'll fill out as much as we can. You can explore for now".

I grinned and darted down the hallway. It was quite short. If I laid down my feet would almost touch the other end of the hall. There were 2 doors in the hallway. One at the end and one to the right. I headed to the one at the end.

It opened up into a bathroom. At the end, there was a shower with a toilet and a sink on the right wall. Not particularly interesting I thought as I looked to the sink there was a roll of toilet paper and some soap. There was, however, a mirror hanging above it.

I looked at the person standing before me. I brought by hand up to my forehead and as did they. There was a scar running from one side to the other. I ran my finger across its length. The middle of it was much lighter than the edges. Must've been something there.

My hair was a bit of a mess hanging down to my shoulders. I ran my fingers through the turquoise strands trying to get some of the tangles out.

My eyes were the same striking color as my hair…

Then I noticed a streak of charcoal smudged on my face. A remnant of my failed cooking attempt I thought as I angrily rubbed it off.

I dragged myself away from my reflection and to the other door.

From the entry room, I heard the adults conversing over what to answer the paper's questions with. There would be a lot of blank answers. I sighed quietly in frustration at my lack of remembrance and opened the other door.

Inside I saw another dusty window. There was a desk sitting in front of it with another chair. To the left of the desk, there were two short bookcases in the corner. To the left of the bookcase, there was a small bed sitting in front of another window. On the other side of the bed was a small nightstand. I looked around the room. Half of it was completely bare.

The door suddenly began to creak open and in walked the lady. She appeared rather flustered. "Sora, you're a..." she trailed off, "a..."

"I'm what?" I asked confused by her sudden embarrassment.

"A girl," she said finally.

"Yes," I looked around maybe hoping the walls would confirm what I said.

Her face flushed and she left the room abruptly.

I sighed in confusion.

Then I saw something on the chair by the desk. I walked over and pulled it out. It was bedsheets.

I decided I would put them on the bed later and put them back.

I looked around one more time to see if I missed anything else.

Nothing stood out so I headed back to the entry room.

The lady's face flushed again upon my appearance. The Hokage looked like he had been waiting for me to get back.

He looked down at the papers laid out on the table, "Do you remember how old you are?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Nope".

He scrutinized me for a bit, "We'll put 10 for now.." he said as he scribbled it onto all of the pages, "I believe that's all the information we need for now."

They rose from the table and the Hokage pulled all of the papers back into a stack, "There are sheets for your bed by your desk…" he trailed off as he thought for a bit before pulling a sheet of paper from the pile, "look around the apartment and write down the furniture items that you'll need, such an alarm clock," he pulled an envelope out of the pile and set it on the table, "The money in here is to cover your food expenses for the month, spend it wisely," he advised.

The adults headed out of the apartment."Don't forget to lock the door," the lady ordered as she went through the door, "and don't burn down the building".

I waved to them as they left before pushing the door closed. I locked the door as I had been told. Then I looked around for somewhere to put the key so I wouldn't lose it.

The table seemed like as good of a candidate as any so I set it there and examined the contents of the envelope.

There was another key to the apartment. Probably a good thing to have. There was also twenty-thousand yen. I looked around trying to think. What day was today?

I wrote 'calendar' on the piece of paper followed by an alarm clock as mentioned by the Hokage.

How much did food cost?

I sighed... My ignorance was painful.

After double-checking that the door was locked, I put the spare key in the refrigerator. I left the other one on the table and wandered down the hallway to the bedroom.

If I had put the bedsheets on earlier I could be sleeping now. I pulled them snug to the bottom of the mattress and went to sleep without bothering with the rest.

From within the depths of my dreams, I heard a voice once again…

"_, How do you know how to do that?" It sounded like my voice... Maybe a bit higher-pitched?

It was her. The one with the beautiful laugh… this time she sounded very distant when she spoke, "You can't always rely on other

people, _,". She turned away, her voice was pained when she continued, "People use people… even if they have a good intention, they're still using them," her pain turned into frustration and anger. She suddenly left.

I felt a hole being ripped in my heart.

I wanted to apologize but I knew nothing I said would lift the pain that had affixed itself to her heart. I knew it more agonizingly than

anyone…

It was all my fault.

The world was still dark when I awoke. I got out of bed and wandered to the bathroom. I showered mulling over my dream.

What was my fault?


	8. 8 Tour Time

I never found my answer. Perhaps it was all just nonsensical dreaming. Perhaps these 'dreams' were actually my memories? This was all nonsense.

What was I getting so worked up about?

I got out of the shower and put the same clothing back one. I'd probably need some new clothes soon.

I brushed my hair out. It ended just above my shoulders. The edge looks as if it had been cut recently. I decided I would ignore it for now and wandered back into my bedroom. The room glowed a pale gold.

I looked out the window…

The sun was beginning to rise above the distant buildings casting a warm glow onto the world.

I pushed open the window above my bed. I looked down. The roof hung out beneath it.

It looked big enough to safely sit on.

I cautiously climbed out of the window and sat watching the sun rise over my new home.

There was a cool breeze beckoning in the day. Looking around at the world around me I saw a few people milling around below intent on getting somewhere as soon as possible. Then there was the occasional person staggering down the street trying to remember where they were going.

I closed my eyes and say serenely soaking in the warm world. I heard a knock from within my apartment. I opened my eyes and with one final glance around I rolled back into the apartment and landed on the bed. I made a quick stop in the bathroom to check my reflection… my hair was very windblown.

I straightened it out a bit before I ran to check the front door.

I pulled it open. Outside there was a young male ninja with dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail with a Konoha forehead protector across his forehead.

"Hi, you must be Sora! I am Iruka Umino. I'm going to be your instructor at the academy. So, you can call me Iruka-sensei" he

announced happily when I opened the door.

I stared blankly at him for a bit. That was a lot of information really quickly.

"Hi? Yes, I am Sora. It is great to meet you" I said trying to match his excitement.

"The Hokage said you just moved in last night. He wants me to show you around town and help you pick up the stuff that he missed when setting up your apartment" he explained, "he said you'd have a list of things that we need to find as well", he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me, "here's a list of things that the Hokage has already picked up to send over here".

I looked over the piece of paper. First on the list, clothes. I smiled a bit and checked it off my mental checklist. Next was something to fill the two empty bookcases, books and scrolls. The list was pretty short; tableware, blankets, and what I guessed to be school supplies.

"Are you ready to go explore the village?" he said while staring at my feet trying to cast a telepathic message.

I looked down at my feet. I forgot to put my shoes back on. "I'll be ready shortly," I said as I ran back into my apartment.

I quickly closed and locked my window and grabbed my shoes and ran back to the kitchen.

I pulled on my shoes and grabbed the list and envelope off the table and started to run out the door. Then I remembered to bring the

keys. I walked back to the table and grabbed the key. I affixed it to the interior of my shoe and ran out the door locking it behind me, "All ready!" I said cheerfully.

And off we headed into the vast unknown.

This time we headed off in a more linear path that led back to the academy and the Hokage's office. I tried very hard to remember how to get there I also made a mental note to add a map to the list of things I needed.

We started our tour of the village with a tour of the academy. I'll probably need a map of this place too. It was several layers high with lots of rooms on each floor.

We approached one of the rooms, "This is going to be your classroom this year," Iruka said, "the Hokage will get more information about that to you soon".

At that, we made our way out of the academy and down lots of paths and up some more paths until I was once again lost.

We somehow ended up on top of a large building directly in front of the face mountain.

"The Hokage said you had very limited knowledge of Konoha history," Iruka began.

I almost laughed, but I didn't, "I have no knowledge of Konoha history, Iruka-sensei," I informed him.

"This is a very iconic feature of our village. In it are carved the faces of the best shinobi in the village- Our Hokage," Iruka explained, "On the far left we have our village founder- the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju. To the right of him, we have, Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage. To his right, we have Hiruzen Sarutobi, our third and current Hokage. To his right we have our late fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze" he said going full teacher mode.

"What happened to the Fourth?" I asked.

"Twelve years ago there was an attack on Konoha by a beast. The Fourth Hokage sealed it away. The seal he used, however, to seal the beast he had to sacrifice himself for it to work. He died defending our village, many other brave ninjas also died in the attack. My parents also died defending the village against that beast" he said sadly but with a great sense of underlying respect.

We stood in silence as we watched the cheery blanket of clouds wander over the mountainside.

"Next we are off to the store to get the additional things off your list" he announced as he headed down to the streets.

We again wandered up some path and down some trail and around a building or two until we found ourselves in front of a decently sized store.

"What do we need to get?" Iruka asked as he glanced at my list.

"A map," I started before I forgot, "a calendar, and an alarm clock," I said.

"That's it?" Iruka asked?

"And food…" I said as I looked over at the aisles of consumable items.

We wandered toward an aisle that had calendars on the end. I grabbed the cheapest one. It had various landscape photographs for each month. The sticker read 600 yen. Next to it we found Konoha maps for 100 yen.

We moved down the aisles seeking out an alarm clock. Again I grabbed the cheapest one and hoped it worked. It was made of grey metal. The sticker read 1000 yen.

I did the math in my head. Twenty thousand minus one thousand six hundred. I still had about eighteen thousand yen left.

My hungry eyes led me over to the food.

"What day is today?" I asked.

"May 11th" Iruka answered.

I opened my calendar to May. There were twenty days left in the month. Eighteen thousand divided by twenty… 900 yen per day for food.

These cups of ramen were 100 yen apiece…


	9. 9 The Neighbor

Iruka's eyes followed my own to the price tag on the ramen, "Oh, no! You are not going to be living off instant ramen like Naruto! You need real food" he exclaimed.

"But it's cheap? It's not real food?" I asked, "And who's Naruto?"

He looked like he was about to speak but he paused and collected himself, "Your neighbor, the person with the apartment right next to yours is named Naruto" he explained, "and instant ramen has nowhere near enough nutritional value for a ninja-in-training! It may be cheap but you need to eat other food too."

"Ok," I said as I casually scooped 12 cups of instant ramen into my arms and walked towards the other food. Minus 1200 yen...

"What are those for?" he asked ever so slightly irritated.

"Eating..?" I asked, "for about half of the month?".

I received an eye roll, "Don't forget breakfast food."

I redirected my path towards a part of the aisle that was labeled breakfast. There were lots of boxes, "What's this stuff?" I asked.

"Cereal," he answered"you eat it with milk. You didn't have cereal where you came from?" he asked.

"Oh, never had it before," I replied as I grabbed the cheapest cereal. Minus 200 yen…

I looked around for the thing call milk... I found it at the back of the store in a really long refrigerator with clear doors. Minus another 350 yen.

I still had sixteen thousand two-hundred and fifty yen left to spend on food.

My eyes led me to the brightly colored section with fruits and vegetables.

"This is what is considered real food" Iruka informed me as we wandered into the area.

I grabbed a bag of apples… they should be healthy, right? Minus another 300 yen.. Fifteen thousand nine-hundred and fifty yen left.

"I think that's all I need," I said to myself.

"Ok, we'll check out and drop this stuff at your apartment then go grab the stuff the Hokage had to send over" Iruka replied.

Over to the register, we walked. The very nice cashier rang up all of my stuff and put them in bags to help us carry them. I forked

over my 3,750 yen and we were on our way.

Apparently, my apartment was just down the way from the store. We arrived back to my dwelling place in a matter of minutes and I didn't even feel particularly lost!

I fished the key out of my shoe and opened the door.

I grabbed the milk from the bag and put it in my own refrigerator. Mine wasn't as great as the ones at the store… it didn't have clear glass doors.

I grabbed the pencil from the table and circled the date on the calendar. I decided I'd find it a permanent spot later.

Looking at the stuff sitting on the table I deemed that it would be fine sitting there until later.

"Where are we going now?" I asked Iruka.

Iruka looked at the clock, "We will be heading over to the Hokage's office momentarily. He has a majority of the stuff that we need to pick up there."

We exited the apartment and I locked the door behind me.

The door to the next apartment opened. Out walked a boy with spiky blond hair and blue eyes. He donned a pair of goggles on his forehead and a bright orange jumpsuit.

"Hi! I'm Sora," I announced cheerfully to him, "I moved into this building yesterday! It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" I asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" he replied with a goofy grin, "Hi, Iruka-sensei!".

"Oh, Naruto are you free this afternoon?" Iruka questioned.

"Yeah? Why?" Naruto answered.

"We have to pick up some stuff from the Hokage's office for Sora. Would you be able to help? I'll buy you a bowl of ramen" Iruka informed him.

"Yes! When do we start!" Naruto asked.

"We can start making our way over there now," Iruka told us.

At that, we started making our way over towards the face mountains.

"Where did you live before?" Naruto probed.

"The past few days I've been at the orphanage. Before that, I have no idea. I can't remember a single thing from before I got to this village" I responded.

"Oh, you're an orphan as well?" Naruto asked.

"So it seems" I replied.

We had arrived at the Hokage's office. I sighed, once again I failed to memorize the route. Iruka-sensei opened the door and ushered for us to enter. Once inside the person at the front desk pointed us towards a small pile of assorted boxes and bags to the left of the door. "This is the stuff that Lord-Third has gathered for Sora's apartment," they said as we walked over to it.

Iruka grabbed the box containing the tableware as Naruto nabbed the box full of dusty books which caused him to sneeze. I grabbed a bag that looked to be full of assorted cloth and stacked it on top of the last box, which was a lot smaller than the rest.

"Did we get everything?" Iruka asked as he looked around at the ground.

"Yep," I said.

Off we headed back to my apartment.

"These books must be older than the Third-Hokage," Naruto remarked as more dust was blown up from the box.

We arrived back at my apartment. Where has all the time gone? Was my apartment that close to the Hokage's office? Or was I going crazy?

I set my stack down beside the door and fished out the key to unlock the door. Pushing open the door Naruto and Iruka entered, setting the boxes in front of the window in the entry room.

I dragged my pile in and set it beside their stack.

"You like instant ramen, too!" exclaimed Naruto upon seeing my 12 cups of instant ramen on the table.

"I've never tried it. But it was cheap," I explained.

"It's the best! Well, not as good as Ichiraku ramen, of course. But it's still really tasty," Naruto declared.

Iruka looked at the clock, "Ramen time?" he asked as he looked back at us, "I'll pay. As a welcome to Konoha for Sora".

Naruto practically teleports out of the apartment and is to the bottom of the stairs before we get to the door. I lock up behind us. Naruto leads the way to Ichiraku ramen.

Soon we are brushing through red Noren and entering a small building called Ichiraku ramen. Naruto and Iruka are immediately recognized and welcomed by the two people behind the counter, they must come here a lot, "Who's this? A new friend Naruto?" asked the man behind the counter.

"This is Sora, she moved in next to me yesterday," Naruto explained.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," I said to the two behind the counter.

We sat down at the counter, I looked at the piece of paper in front of me. There was a long list of things on it. "What would you recommend, Naruto?" I asked as I didn't know what any of the things on the list were.

"Miso ramen with pork cutlets!" Naruto announced.

Soon there were steaming hot bowls of noodles in front of all three of us. We grabbed chopsticks and dug into our food.

The food disappeared immediately, but our stomachs mysteriously grew…

"Thank you for the food, Iruka-sensei" Naruto and I said as we exited the building.

Naruto and I wandered back to our apartment building as the cloudlight began to fade from the village.

"Thank you for helping today, Naruto. Sleep well!" I said as we went our separate ways on the top of the stairs.

"You too," Naruto called back.

There was a smile that had mysteriously affixed itself to my face as I closed the door behind me.


	10. 10 Witches Melt

I brought my hands up to my face, the smile was still there. I laughed and went to work on the pile of stuff that we'd brought in. I shoved the non-cold things where they fit in the kitchen. I put the alarm clock next to my bed, the map and calendar I put on the desk, then I returned to the pile.

I lifted the tableware out of its box and set it on the table. I carried the small box of paper and various writing utensils to the desk. To the bookcases, I dragged the heavy box of scrolls and books. The bag of cloth I set in front of the bed. Then I set to sorting things out.

I started with the desk. I shoved the paper things into the bottom drawer. I left the writing utensils on top of the desk. Grabbing a marker I opened the calendar and marked the date, May 11. I used the marker to 'x' out all of the previous days in the month. I drew a chibi face of Iruka and Naruto on the day. I grinned at the goofy face I'd made Naruto, it fit him very well. I chuckled and moved onto the map.

I marked where the face mountains were with a circle. Then I made a mark around Ichiraku Ramen and the store. I searched around the map for the academy and then circled that as well. Now, where on the map am I? I'd save that for tomorrow… maybe I could ask Naruto?

I moved away from the desk and sat in front of the bag of cloth. I started pulling individual items out, but then I decided it would be faster to just dump it all out. I grabbed the bottom of the bag and flipped it over. Out plopped one really big blanket with an unpleasant murky blue pattern, after it tumbled a small pile of clothing items. They didn't look too bad, they were, however, all very heavily advertising the village.

I tried one on… just a bit too big. Some room to grow? I stuffed the clothes in the handi-dandi drawers under the bed. The blanket, albeit ugly, looked very warm. I fluttered it over the bed.

The box of books and scrolls looked very overwhelming… I didn't even want to touch it. I closed my eyes and reached into the dusty box…

Out came a large scroll, "Shinobi Learning: Teaching Chakra manipulation to idiots". Wow, exactly what I needed…

Am I an idiot?

I looked into the box and pulled out all the similar scrolls: "Shinobi Learning: Taijutsu basics for idiots", "Shinobi Learning: Ninjutsu basics for idiots", "Shinobi Learning: Genjutsu basics for idiots", and "Shinobi Learning: Ninja basics for idiots"... looks like a complete series. I put them on the shelf together. I'd look through them later after I got all the books on the shelf.

I reached into the box and pulled out a book, "Icha Icha Paradise". Hmmm… I read the back of the book.

And under the bookcase it went…. Not a ninja book.

Not a ninja book.

Definitely not a ninja book.

I blushed and reached back into the box and hoped for something useful…

"Konoha History I" the title read. Another series? I searched through the box for more books like it.

I found, "Konoha History II', "Konoha History III", and "Konoha History IV". I smiled, now I wouldn't be completely oblivious to Konoha history when I started at the academy.

I looked back into the box and there at the bottom was one final book, "Kunoichi 101".

What's a Kunoichi?

I yawned and put it on the shelf… the world on the otherwise of the window was dark.

I looked over at my new clock… 2:13.

Its past lights out. I wandered from the bookshelves over to the light switch and turned it off. Trudging back through the darkness to the bed I felt an uneasy sense of deja vu…

My world darkened further as my head contacted the pillow.

My world remained dark… rain pelted the ground.

"_!" a voice cried.

It was the girl with the beautiful laugh….

Lightning lit up the horizon.

I still could not see her…

"Quick, We have to get out of here. This way!" she screamed over the rain.

I followed her voice…

Thunder boomed and the rain seemed to be momentarily hushed.

Screams.

There were screams… lots of screams. Over that-

There was my village. Flames rose above the buildings despite the rains' best attempts…

My heart told me that this was my fault…

"_!" she called again, "Hurry, up!"

I dragged my eyes away from the scene and followed the shadowed figure into the darkness…..

"Where are we going?" I yelled over the rain.

"We're going to-" she stopped walking.

In our path stood a rather tall shadowed individual… "What do I have here… two lost lives? If you're done with them mind if I claim them?" the voice questioned.

"Found them!" cried an enraged voice from behind us.

She made a quick decision. "They're all yours in you can get us out of here. Additional parameters will be set afterward. Agreed?" she stated.

I felt a sadistic smirk cross the shadowed individuals face, "Agreed".

We were pulled into a cloaked embrace… it was warm… out of the rain... and safer than we had been moments before.

"Oh, it's just you…." an upset voice grumbled from outside our darkened world, "Did you find them?" it questioned.

"Perhaps they washed away in the rain. They were witches after all. Or at least that's what the villagers said" our cloaked protector suggested.

"You had better not have been killing villagers…" the upset voice complained, "They might've been important in their former villages".

"Of course not. I'm simply very persuasive" our protector threatened.

"For some reason, I doubt your persuasion was ethical…" the upset voice muttered, "Remember you're supposed to find those two… otherwise, he'll be very upset".

"Have I ever failed him?" our protector questioned.

The other voice did not respond. Heavy footsteps splashed their way back toward the village.

"Not scared of witches?" she asked when the footsteps could no longer be heard.

The cloak moved away from us and we were hit once more by the frigid winds. "And you're not scared of me?" the figure asked.

"Your the best option we have," she answered.

"We are dead anyways what more is there to be scared off.." I stammered between my shivering.

Surprisingly the cloak wrapped itself back me blocking the wind once again.

"Hey! I'm cold too" she whimpered as she huddled closer.

"Not scared of me?" the figure questioned once more.

"Not everyone can be as innocently ignorant as _" she struggled to say over her shivering.

I tried reaching to bring her closer but my arms were pinned in place. I looked up at our cloaked 'protector'.

"_ isn't even scared of spiders. She isn't scared of anything" I outlandishly claimed.

Our cloaked protector chucked and drew _ into the cover of the cloak and thus we were spirited away from our homeland.

I awoke to the warmth of that ugly murky blue blanket. The alarm clock read 6:00. The dream left me feeling safe and worried at the same time… The world outside the window was still dark. I stayed in bed not ready to confront the cold so early in the day.


	11. 11 Orange Trees

I finally rolled out of bed once the dim light of the sun began to peek through the window. I quickly showered and pulled on a too big dark grey Konoha t-shirt and a pair of black shorts that miraculously fit decently well. I walked to my entry room and made myself a bowl of cereal.

I grinned over my newly obtained ability: breakfast making. The lady would be very proud. I didn't set anything on fire. I rinsed my bowl and set it in the sink. A knock came from my door. Was I expecting anyone? Maybe someone to talk about the whole academy thing?

Opening the door I found my wild-haired neighbor looking around nervously.

"Need something, Naruto?" I questioned the boy.

"Oh, uhhh… The academy starts back up in two days. I was uhh.. Wondering if you would like to come train with me?" he answered sheepishly.

"I'd love to!" I exclaimed with a smile. Then I glanced at my feet, "I need to put shoes on, I'll be right back" I said as I ran back into my apartment to throw on my shoes, which, thankfully were right by the door. Then I ran back out and off on our training adventure we went.

Naruto seemed to know where he was going as we ran off through the awakening village to a less populated area with many trees and further on from there until we got to a forest. We stopped in a clearing not far from the edge of the trees.

"Uhh, Let's see. What ninja things have we learned…?" Naruto asked himself, "Oh, do you know how to do transformation jutsu?" he enthusiastically questioned.

"No, I do not believe I do" I replied deeply confused. What was jutsu?

"So you just have to knead some chakra and then you do the Dog hand seal" he put his hands together to form the seal, " Boar" he changed his hand's positions, "and Ram" he changed his hand's position once more and a burst of smoke erupted around him. When it cleared he had taken the form of Iruka-sensei.

"Wow, that's amazing!" I responded with awe and tried to replicate the process myself. The sequence naturally flowed out… as though I had done it millions of times. Smoke exploded around me. When it cleared, there were two Iruka-sensei's staring at each other.

"Wow, you're a natural at this, Sora!" Naruto said clearly shocked.

"I- I dunno what happened…. I didn't really think about it and it- it just…." I was scared…. "Just what was I before I got here…" I said frustrated and concerned with myself.

"Whatever you were, you're awesome now." Naruto encouraged me.

"Thanks, Naruto." I responded with a sad smile, "What other ninja-y things would I have missed out on?" I continued trying to also encourage Naruto.

Our training session continued until Naruto had exhausted himself trying to show me how amazing he was. We had gone over how to throw shuriken and kunai, basic ninja formations, basic ninja terminology (my kunoichi question was answered..), other basic ninja knowledge…

"Wait, wait, I still have another master-grade technique!" Naruto said excitedly as he jumped to his feet.

"Wow, you have even more master-grade techniques! You're amazing Naruto!" I said awed by how many master-grade techniques Naruto knew.

He paused for a minute… then his face blushed, "I- I'd probably better not show you this one…" he trailed off.

"Why? What is it?" I asked wondering why his face was so red.

"It- It's kinda r-rated… author-sama wouldn't want to post it.." Naruto said flustered.

"Ah, poor author-sama… but, why is your master-grade ninja technique r-rated?" I asked.

"Naked…" Naruto said embarrassed.

Maybe Naruto wasn't as well-behaved as I anticipated… I may be terrible at judging people. I shivered remembering last night's dream. I am most likely very bad at judging people.

"Naruto…" I began.

Naruto got very worried, very quickly.

I smiled and continued, "Thank you for helping me out today. I really appreciate it".

"No problem, Sora," Naruto sheepishly replied rubbing the back of his head.

"There you two are.." yelled a very scary voice.

I looked to the source of the sound… it was Iruka-sensei.

"Oh, crap-ity- crap! Sora, run!" Naruto called as he took off into the forest.

Rolling my eyes I quickly followed after him, "Why is Iruka-sensei after us, Naruto?" I asked as I caught up to him.

"Welllllllllll…. That's a story for another time. For now, we just have to lose him" Naruto explained ignoring my question.

"NARRRUUUUUUUTOOOOO! YOU IDIOT! GET BACK HERE!" Iruka-sensei yelled… very close behind us.

"Quick, Sora, this way," Naruto said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me towards a very dense ground of trees, "We can lose him in here," he explained.

"Clones," I said as we passed through the first of the foliage, "send them on ahead, then we can track back towards the village while he chases them" I continued.

"Good idea!" Naruto said.

We each made a single clone and took a quick side step and waited for Iruka-sensei to chase after the clones… "we could use that transparency jutsu thingy so he doesn't find us…" I added.

"Ok," Naruto whispered.

Never thought Naruto could whisper.. He was always so loud and obnoxious. We blended into our surroundings… there was a large crash in front of us as Iruka-sensei burst through the trees, "NARRRUUUUUUUTOOOO!" Iruka-sensei screamed as he chased after our clones.

We waited until Iruka's screaming grew faint before we hightailed it back to the village. We huffed and puffed our way back to our apartment building… "Naruto, what did you do?" I asked exhausted from our run.

"Hahhahahaha… dunno" Naruto grinned.

"You are one crazy kid, you know that…?" I shook my head with a smile.

"Yep!" his grin widened.

"NNAAAARRUUUUUUUUUUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" echoed Iruka-sensei's voice through the village.

"Oh, crap" Naruto exclaimed.

I grimaced, "Maybe we could try and appease him and get a bowl of ramen out of it?" I suggested.

"I like how you think" Naruto looked around worried.

Suddenly there was a dark-haired figure very dramatically dashing its way up our street, "NNAAAARRRUUUUTTTOOOO! YOU FOOL!" Iruka-sensei screamed.

Soon he was upon us… smoke blew from his nostrils. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" he screamed nearly blowing us away with his voice.

"Ahahahahaha…" Naruto replied sheepishly.

"WHHHHYYYY would you spray paint ALL the trees in the village ORANGE!?" Iruka-sensei questioned with remarkable volume.

"I felt the village needed to have some more color?" Naruto offered.

"YOU will spend the rest of the day scrubbing ALL of the color off of the leaves!" Iruka informed him.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto responded with a gulp.

"AND YOU!" Iruka-sensei turned towards me.

"Yes?" I quickly replied shrinking..

"Academy starts next week. We will be holding an examination tomorrow for you to determine what classes you will need to take. 1PM at the academy. Be there on time" he informed me.

"Yes, sir!" I replied, "Naruto, do you need help uncoloring the trees?" I questioned.

"That'd be great, Sora," Naruto said with a grin.

Before the days end the trees returned to their natural green color and we returned home with smiles and warm happy stomachs full of Ichiraku ramen.


	12. 12 A Tale for Halloween

BOO! Scared you didn't I? Bet you didn't expect me to post twice in one day! It seems that spooky season is upon us… therefore in honor of the season, I suppose we should give ourselves the most pleasant of adventures. A Halloween chapter. Now, I, the unfortunate author-sama ended up spending an unpleasant quantity of time at various locations that I had not planned to remain so long at… therefore, please enjoy this lovely tale despite its shortness.

Once upon a long time ago within a faraway land there lived two princesses. This land was most beautiful. The mountainous terrain had at one point daunted civilization. Now, it had been tamed. The ground produced harvests of abundance. The water ran the more clear of crystal. However, since ancient times their nobility had been plagued with no male heirs. Rumors spread they had at one point tricked a demon. Or made a bet with a higher power. The tale warped as it spread. As a result of this ailment the village began to welcome foreigners into the land in hopes of strengthening their land and possibly freeing themselves of the curse.

From all across the world came those whose home no longer welcomed them. Among them was a very handsome man. Though he had tried to avoid it, the princesses both developed an infatuation with the man. Of course naturally, the older of the two would be the one claim the individual.

The younger found this… most unfortunate. The man had come to be free… but, yet, he was now to be shackled down as her sister's husband. A most unfortunate existence indeed. She likened him to that of a bird who had fallen from its nest before it could learn to fly.

The elder sister disliked the younger for also liking the object of her infatuation.. Therefore she crafted a plan to get rid of her.

The elder sister feared the younger sister would steal the object of her infatuation. Within the cover of the night on a new moon when the land would be at its darkest she would have her followers cast her sister from a cliff near her favorite walking path. An accident they would claim it to have been.

The plan was never enacted. For while the older sister was the rightful heir to the kingdom.. She had not been born with traits that the village had come to expect in their royal family. She had most unfortunately taken after her father… a male from another clan. As a result, she would not be able to become the head of the village.

The plot was overheard by one of the younger sister's secret guards. The older sister fated to an unfortunate existence was removed from the public eye. The younger princess married the foreign man.

From their union was born a child. A most unfortunate child, born in the likeness of her ill-fated aunt. A constant reminder of how cruel fate could be.

The End~

If you desire an actual Halloween chapter please leave me a message. I will be sure to write it tomorrow if so. If not we will continue with our regularly scheduled programming.


	13. 13 In the Moonlight

Returning home I recalled Iruka mentioning an examination tomorrow… the world outside was fading into darkness but, I remained awake and tried to figure out what would be on the test… Naruto had gone over quite a few things today, so I shouldn't have to worry too much over any paper test, right? Would there be Konoha history questioned on the test? There were quite a few books on that subject that the Hokage sent… was it a message? Did Naruto cover all the things he'd learned in previous years at the academy?

I looked over at the bookshelf.. A very specific book caught my eye. One that Naruto would have very little experience with… the "Kunoichi 101" book. I sighed and pulled it off of the bookshelf. The cover was covered with simplistic renditions of flowers. I cracked open the book and began reading…

How would flower arranging help me fight a battle I wondered idly as I brushed past the section..

I flipped through the pages becoming bored with the topics… most people don't even realize I'm a girl. What good would it do me to learn this? I'd just draw more attention to me…

The pages blurred together as I skimmed through the words.

The world went dark.

There were screams from the surrounding housing areas.

I walked over to my lamp. It did not turn on. I looked out the window. Everything was dark.

The power was out.

I sighed annoyed by the inconvenience. Maybe I wasn't the only one who didn't want me to be studying?

I felt my way through the apartment to the door. Maybe Naruto would know what was going on?

I was about to open it when I heard something behind me. A quick footstep.

I fell to the left to avoid whatever it was. Something heavy smashed into the door.

What is happening….?

I looked around in the darkness, hoping for some clue as to how I would get out of whatever it was that was happening. I found nothing but darkness. As to be expected from the lack of light.

Think, think, think….

Aha! I'll just think of it as evading Iruka-sensei again. I created a clone as quietly as possible and sent it running to the back of the apartment.

"Who is there?' it called as it reached the entrance to the hallway.

"So, you are here…" It was that girl's voice, "I felt your chakra and thought you needed a little help in coming home…" but it wasn't the same… It was dark and unnerving, "But, here I find you living a life of luxury… abandoning me to your mess".

"I don't know you! Leave me alone!" the clone screamed echoing my inner turmoil.

"What?" the voice hissed, "You-" it paused for a moment to recompose itself, "How could you!" the door opened and she ran out into the night.

In the moonlight, I caught a glimpse of fiery red hair… my heart leapt.

It hurt… all the things I knew, but I couldn't remember. Hiding from me… within the darkness of my own mind.

The words were out of my mouth before my brain processed anything, "Ryuu…"

Tears burned down my face… my clone disappeared.

"Sora?" a young male voice called from the doorway, "Are you okay? Are you in here?".

It was Naruto.

I wiped away my tears, "Yeah, I'm here…"

He was next to me instantly, "H-hey? What's wrong? Why are you crying?".

I guess the moonlight revealed me as well… I looked at him with great sadness, "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"S-sure? What is it?"

"I think I just hurt someone whom I used to care very deeply for… her face" I tried to keep the tears off my face, "how could I have forgotten it…."

Naruto looked as if he had no idea what to do, "Who? What?"

"My sister…" I said sadly, "at least I remember something now…"

"Your sister?" Naruto asked confused.

"Yeah, I'm just as confused as you are. Before today I didn't even remember I had a family… and then I went and said that to her face" I said frustrated with myself, "at least now I'm possibly one step closer to remembering who I am.. I hate this."

"You should probably get some sleep, you have to pass that examination tomorrow if you don't want to have to be in classes with little kids" Naruto reminded me.

"You're probably right.." I signed, "Thank you for worrying about me Naruto, you should get to bed as well" I continued as I stood up.

Naruto made his way to the exit, "Good-night, Sora" he said as he closed the door.

I walked over and opened it back up, "Good-night, Naruto".

As much as I wished I could sleep, sleep and I would most likely not meet that night...

I eventually gave up on the notion of rest and returned to my studying.

I skimmed through the Konoha history books… lots of wars, battles, lots of people dying... Hashirama Senju founded the village… lots of people joined in. Would I need to know the specific clans that joined? I really hoped not. Lots of other assorted things happened. Tobirama Senju became second Hokage.. Uchiha clan… lots of clans…. Words… third Hokage…. Something… something… knowledge.

Darkness returned to my world…

Surprisingly it remained quiet…. For at least a little while.

"_?" a younger Ryuu called to me, "Are you okay? Are you hurt" she asked as she reached out to touch my face… it came away stained red.

I reached up to touch my own head. "Y-yeah… I'm fine.. I guess…" I replied sadly, "at least we're still alive?".

"At least we're still alive," she agreed, "One day… we'll get everything back," she continued as she pulled me into her embrace.

"Yeah, one day… " I mumbled, "we just need to live… and one day, we'll get it back".

An obnoxious ringing drew me from the little sleep I got.

The clock read 10:00. Cloud light glared at me from outside my window… why would I not get up sooner to appreciate its hard work?

I rolled out of bed and prepared for what lies ahead.

I would've completely forgotten about last night's events had it not been for the scratches on my door and the askew welcome mat. I fixed the mat and made myself a bowl of cereal. Day two without burning down the apartment from cooking.

I ate my food in silence. Pondering last night..

I washed my dishes in silence. Pondering last night..

Why had she come?

Surely she had not come to bring me back? Otherwise, she would have dragged me back..

Was she truly, honest to goodness, just worried about me?

I knew deep down in my heart that the later was the truth.


	14. 14 Beneath the Clouds

Glancing at the clock I noted the time, 9AM. My brow furrowed as I began to prepare for the day ahead. I showered while pondering… I remembered something. Something important. But, was I supposed to tell the Hokage?

She appeared in my dreams as well, Ryuu… does that mean that the dreams weren't just dreams. I sighed as I pulled on yet another too-big konoha themed t-shirt and shorts. What do the other dreams mean?

Are they all memories. Who are the other shadowed figures...

"She said she felt my chakara… what does this even mean" I groaned in frustration.

Ryuu… my heart ached. I wanted to find her and apologize for what I said to her. Water dripped onto the pages of the book. Huh? When had I even started studing? What? Am I crying…?

I wiped away the tears. The Hokage seemed to be a pretty smart guy so maybe he can figure it out? Maybe I could ask Iruka-sensei, he seemed nice… I looked to the alarm clock again 11AM. I sighed. Time had ran past without me evening realizing it. I decided that in my current state studying would be a waste of time and wandered over to my bed and crawled out of the window to sit on the ledge.

A warm breeze greeted me amidst the overcast sky. I gazed out at the blanket of clouds… it feels like its going to rain today. Leaning against the house I meditated on my thoughts. Letting the playful breeze carry them off towards the horizon. I bid the gale to also send my apologies and regret to Ryuu. Perhaps by some miracle it would reach her. No, the wind would get her the message. It definitely would.

I will write her an apology and tell her what happened I decided. Rolling back through the window I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out what had happened that I remembered. Folding it into a little origami dragon I set it adrift into the wind off on its voyage to find Ryuu, I smiled pleased with myself.

A sudden premonition urged me to look at my clock… and I did so.

"I'm going to be late!" I cursed myself as I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my key pulling open the door. I almost ran over Iruka-sensei as he was reaching for the door, "Sorry, sensei!" I apologized as I caught myself on the doorframe to keep from knocking him over.

"Woah!" Iruka chuckled, "No need to be in such a rush. You still have two hours until the exam starts."

I blinked in confusion. "Two hours? But the clock said…" I looked at the clock again, "See, it says its 1 PM now?".

Iruka also looked confused, "Didn't it just get reset? Why is it moving so fast?" he walked over to the clock to examine it, "It was a really cheap clock I guess..". Suddening as though he had a revelation he exclaimed, "Oh, the power went out didn't it. That would explain it. That's why I'm here. Hokage sent me to ask you and Naruto if you had seen anything unusual last night" he stated while staring at the scratched and indented door.

"Someone broke in…" I said sadly.

"Oh, no! That's terrible did they steal anything?" Iruka asked alarmed, "Why do you sound so sad".

"Because I remembered something… well, someone" I fought back the tears, "and it was them…" I trailed off.

"What happened? What did you remember? Who did you remember?" Iruka asked worriedly.

"Well, apparently I have a sister… her name is Ryuu… and I think the weird dreams I keep having are actually my memories trying to come back" I tried to explain without crying.

"Where is she?" Iruka asked, bewildered looking down the hall.

"She tried to attack me and before I remembered who she was I told her I didn't know who she was… she didn't like that.. She got sad and ran away. And now I'm sad" I cried unable to hold the tears back anymore.

Awkwardly Iruka tried to comfort me, "ah, I'm going to go check on Naruto and see if he saw anything else. We'll go talk to the Hokage once I'm done there", he explained while shuffling out the door towards Naruto's apartment.

I was immediately drawn back to the memory of the warm embrace Ryuu and I had shared in the dream a few nights ago. My heart ached… I wanted to go back to them. But, who or where they were still evaded my mind.

Iruka popped his head back into the apartment, "Are you okay, can we go talk to the Hokage now" he asked concerned.

"Yeah.." I answered wiping the tears off my face only to have them immediately replaced by more.

Following an immediately forgotten run over to the Hokage's office and a stop at the front desk we were ushered into the Hokage's office.

"To what do I owe the visit, Iruka, Sora." the Hokage greeted them from behind his piles of important Hokage papers.

"Lord-Hokage, Sora says she saw the intruder… and knows who it is." Iruka said quietly.

"You remembered something?" The Hokage asked immediately getting up and walking around to stand at the front of his desk.

"Yes, sir" I said.

"Thats fantastic!" he smiled enthusiastically, "What is it that you remembered?"

"Ah, um.. Well, my sister. She's the one that appeared last night after the black out". I explained.

"Did you remember anything else?" probed the Hokage.

"No, sir.." I replied.

"Well, I'm sure it will all come back eventually" said the Hokage as he looked at his clock, "But, for now" he smiled, "you have a test to get to".

Following Iruka out of the building we walked from the Hokage's office to the academy, "Unfortunately as you'll have to test out of

each class this might end up being a long day" Iruka said as we walked into the classroom.

Every seat in the room has a pile of papers in front of it, "These- these aren't all tests that I have to take, right?" I looked at Iruka hoping that he would debunk my suspicion.

He walked over to his desk, "This one isn't a test you have to take," he said cheerfully as I waved a blank piece of paper around, "It's scratch paper for your math tests".

"Math test**s" **I questioned, hopeful I'd misheard.

"Yep, you'd better get started right away," Iruka explained.

And so with great gusto I meandered my way around the classroom taking test after test until I reached a state of enlightenment surpassing even Buddha himself. "Is it over now…" I asked my brain fried.

Iruka looked up from his grading, "Did you study with Naruto?" he questioned.

"Yes," I said hopeful, "Did I get everything right?"

He sighed, "No" he looked down at the answers again and sighed an even greater sigh, "Next time check whatever Naruto says with those books the Hokage sent you… But, thankfully it looks like you got enough questions correct to be able to graduate this coming school year" he said with an exhausted smile.

"Yay!" I cheered for myself.

"I look forward to seeing you in my classes in the coming weeks, maybe you could help Naruto catch up on his studies until then" Iruka said tiredly, "Can you find your way back to your apartment?" He asked.

"Yes" I answered and headed for the door.

I did find my way home… just in a very creative and most likely never before seen path that took a very long time.


End file.
